Movies
[SXSW Review] ‘Offseason’ Offers Mild Thrills Amidst a Thin Narrative
Mickey Keating is no stranger to homage. You can feel the impact of The X-Files and Invasion of the Body Snatchers in Pod (review). Roman Polanski’s Repulsion was an obvious influence on Darling (review). Carnage Park (review) features elements of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and the films of Quentin Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah. With Psychopaths, as Brad Miska wrote in his review, Keating pulled from Paul Schrader and other colorful and vibrant psychedelic films from the 1970s. His latest feature, Offseason, chooses to go a somewhat unexpected route.
Marie (Jocelin Donahue, The House of the Devil) has just suffered the death of her mother (Melora Walters, appearing in flashbacks). After receiving a mysterious letter informing her that her mother’s grave has been vandalized, she and her partner George (Joe Swanberg, V/H/S, You’re Next) travel to the site of her mother’s grave: a desolate island town completely shrouded in fog, only to discover that the locals are quite hostile and an evil presence lurks somewhere on the island. Marie must then traverse the foggy locale, unlocking the mystery of why she was brought there in the first place. Sound familiar?
Keating has made a sort of calling card out of homaging (or imitating?) other directors in his films, so that will be the main hurdle you’ll have to jump over before you can watch Offseason on its own terms. If you’re able to do that, then there’s a lot that the film has to offer. Shot through the bluest of blue filters, Offseason boasts an impressive visual style. Keating can get a little showy with his camerawork, but he keeps the camera moving, staying glued on Donahue at all times as her situation becomes more and more dire.
Budgetary constraints are an issue here, and they’re fairly obvious, given the amount of screen time devoted to Marie walking around a fog-shrouded island and reacting to things. There are two standout sequences that tease what Keating could do with a larger budget if he was afforded it, but sadly they are just that: teases. Maybe one day Keating will be given a budget that can accommodate his vision, because he’s displayed enough talent over his nearly 10-year career to merit it.
Keating has also gathered a plethora of recognizable character actors to bring some conflict to Marie’s journey. Richard Brake and Jeremy Gardner cameo in brief roles, each adding their own bit of menace to the proceedings, but this is Donahue’s film. A welcome presence in any horror film ever since her breakout debut in Ti West’s The House of the Devil, Offseason would be nothing without her. Due to the aforementioned limited budget, there aren’t many chances for special effects work so it falls on Donahue to make the audience feel the terror that she is feeling, and she knocks it out of the park.
Narratively speaking, there aren’t too many surprises in Offseason and the plot doesn’t have enough meat on its bones to justify its already scant 80-minute runtime. The scares are limited, but it’s all about the atmosphere here; and Offseason has that in spades. The fog is the film’s trademark, but it’s more than just a gimmick, adding a certain mystique to the island settings (a forest, a desolate town, a deserted beach). If nothing else, the film is gorgeous to look at.
Offseason too often treads familiar territory and there’s not really enough plot here to merit a full-length feature, but Keating’s strong visual style and Donahue’s endearing presence make it a film worth checking out. It’s not going to blow you away, but as an exercise in technique it’s certainly watchable.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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